Baseball Prospectus 1996
The Dodgers' 1995 campaign opened with the front office bullying minor leaguers to scab and ended with visions of glory in blue turning into a predictable drubbing by Cincinnati in the new expanded playoffs.

The playoff defeat was predictable for two reasons: the Dodgers' teamwide problem with left-handed pitching and Tommy Lasorda's willful handicapping of what could have been a very good offense.

The problem with left-handed pitching is surprising. You might think that an offense built around the right-handed power of Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi and Eric Karros would have no problem with southpaws. You'd be wrong. Here's what the team did during the season against the two types of pitching:

AVG OBP SLG
vs. LHPs: .250/.311/.379
vs. RHPs: .268/.335/.407

Dodger Stadium didn't do that, and it wasn't the product of all those Sandy Koufax clones in the National League either. No other team in the NL lost as much offense against lefties as the Dodgers.

The Dodgers simply don't hit left-handers. For their careers, both Mondesi and Karros have done relatively poorly against them; Mondesi by a lot, while Karros loses power while picking up a few singles:

So having to face Schourek and Smiley in a short series, they were not in a comfortable position. They were the only team in the playoffs with a losing record in games started by left-handers.

What is frustrating about this is that it could have been avoided. Finding a Benny Ayala or Steve Balboni clone (or the original Rob Deer) isn't hard, and sparing a roster spot for this kind of player is easy. But instead of a role player to pick up the slack created by the dropoffs of Karros and Mondesi, the Dodgers carried two light-hitters (Mitch Webster and Chris Gwynn), who at their best hit a few mean singles, and none of the regulars after Piazza frightened southpaws.

Things might have changed once Brett Butler was acquired for the stretch drive, except for an old habit Lasorda can't shake: his distrust of young players. After acquiring Butler, the Dodgers had a choice to make in left field: either Billy Ashley or Roberto Kelly would go to the bench. Following the book, the Dodgers went with the weak-hitting veteran.

Roberto Kelly did what you'd expect a 31-year-old outfielder with no real power to do. But Ashley's potential upside was much greater. Ashley has hit for a ton of power in the minors. If he's capable of doing anything like he's done there, he's easily a better player than Kelly. The only was to find out was to give him playing time, and Lasorda failed to do that, preferring the safety of guaranteed mediocrity.

This was also unfortunate because Kelly is the kind of player who at this point can help a team off the bench as a fourth outfielder and pinch-hitter, while Ashley is the type a manager loses confidence in the less he sees of him. Ashley will strike out a lot, play left badly and is slow, so if he isn't getting the benefit of regular play and thumping a tater or two, he isn't being useful, which can often irritate the manager.

So acquiring Butler led to one self-inflicted injury to the lineup, as Tommy Lasorda chose the wrong left fielder. But the other effect of the trade was even more devastating: the benching of Jose Offerman.

In what has become an annual game between the error-prone shortstop and the Pastaman, Lasorda benched Offerman. The Dodgers were fretting about their defense, which is poor in the best of times, but became a cause celebre entering the stretch. Prior to Butler's arrival, the Dodgers had been willing to live with Offerman's defensive shortcomings to benefit from his ability to get on base. With Butler's arrival in the leadoff slot, the Dodgers forgot about what Offerman can do (get on and score), and focused on what he can't ("that's another e-six...").

The Dodgers substituted Chad Fonville for Offerman. Fonville had already made a good impression on Lasorda with a scrappy little man's offensive game, and he hit reasonably well against right-handed pitching (.282, with a .348 OBP) in his rookie season. But hitting righties wasn't what the Dodgers needed, and Fonville and Delino DeShields were both awful against lefties this year. As he had with Kelly, Lasorda took a player who would have been an asset off the bench and made him an everyday player.

With Offerman in the lineup, the Dodgers' strength was the offense: a one-two punch of Butler and Offerman would score runs by the truckload. Without him, they had a doubtfully "improved" defense (Fonville did not put up good defensive numbers at short) and a weakened offense. Against a Reds team that matched up extremely well with the Dodgers, the result of the series wasn't surprising.

THE FRONT OFFICE: Fred Claire runs a very interesting organization. Dodger scouting has great success south of the border, but their domestic drafting record is awful. Ryan Luzinski was supposed to be a sure thing, and he's struggled. A string of first-round selections, including Dan Opperman, Kiki Jones and the inexplicable Bill Bene, all "can't-miss" pitching prospects who did, haunts the team.

Some decisions are simply baffling, like last winter's idea to give perpetually injured non-prospect Rudy Seanez a two-year contract, or the waiver wire screwup that cost them pitching prospect Ben VanRyn.

Veteran pickups over the years have been ghastly: Darryl Strawberry, Eric Davis, Eddie Murray, Tim Wallach. Albuquerque seems to be where managers of the future go to die, as first Bill Russell and now Rick Dempsey have wasted their time there. The organization has brought back "a prodigal son," the spectacularly incompetent Phil Regan, and moved him to the front of the line to replace Lasorda, probably in 1997. Regan has the reputation as a good pitching teacher, but was a disaster as the Oriole manager. He's a personal favorite of Fred Claire.

The Dodger system does have some creative strengths. If a young player shows promise early, he's pushed to the higher levels of the system. The risk of burnout is there, but recent examples like Mondesi or Roger Cedeno haven't been discouraging.

The weakness of the Dodger farm system is its defensive instruction, which perpetuates the long-term trend of fielding ineptitude on the big league club. Dodger prospects seem to be particularly raw defensively when they make the majors: Steve Sax, Mariano Duncan, Jose Offerman, Eric Karros, Mike Piazza and Billy Ashley all came up with bad reputations. Some, like Karros, have worked hard to improve their defense; others, like Sax, Duncan and Offerman, never improved their glovework.

THE PASTAMAN: Tommy Lasorda still slags pitchers' arms, runs a shallow bullpen and distrusts players born since the Johnson administration, so he hasn't changed much. He does give good interview, which allows him to issue his usual complaints: "exposing" the conspiracies of the National League to stack rotations against the Dodgers in 1984 and 1991; ripping young players like Offerman, Ashley and even Mike Piazza for shortcomings, and reminding us all of his passion for linguine. He's an entertainer, and he's good at it.

The new Ron Kittle: bad defense, lots of power, few walks. Like Kittle, he could really break through somewhere other than the Dodgers. Comparisons to Dave Kingman are unfair; at this age, Kingman had a better looking future than this. Plans to move him to first seem stillborn.

He must be responsible for half of the season ticket sales in San Antonio, because he's a hack. Keep in mind that he's held the third base job in AA for three straight years despite being awful, and the Dodgers haven't been able to come up with anything better than Henry Blanco to play in San Antonio for three years. That's a problem, because the Dodgers have needed and will need a third baseman.

Acquired from the Mariners. Fred Claire seems to think Blowers is a long-term solution, but he's 31, and his season is really glossy from the eight games in which he had almost half of his RBI. What he does best is crush left-handed pitchers. He's one of the worst gloves at the hot corner you'll find, with poor anticipation. It seems like he almost never fields a ball cleanly; when he was younger and his arm was stronger he could make up for his slow glovework, but his arm's getting weaker with age. A step up from the decrepitude of Wallach or the shortcomings of Jeff Hamilton, but a short-term solution.

Now famous for being a scab who was called up and for the controversy that provoked, he shut up many of the complainants by poking a few important homers, including one on the next-to-last day of the season that clinched the division title for the Dodgers. He can play both corners of the infield, although he can't play third particularly well. Despite being the PCL's All-Star first baseman, he doesn't really have much of a future: he's old, not really much of a power hitter, and doesn't get on base at all. He might still stick in the organization for his display of loyalty last spring.

Brett Butler probably won't make the Hall of Fame, and that's a damn shame. He's never won a Gold Glove, despite deserving one from time to time, and now he's lost more than a step in center, so he'll never win one. Brett's never going to win popularity contests, between his being a staunch union supporter and a plainspoken Christian. He seems like a humorless man of conviction and talent, and sadly, that doesn't make good copy.

The Dodgers have a stockpile of these minor league infielders who don't hit much, don't run much and don't do much. Certainly, Chad Fonville isn't going to lose sleep wondering about these guys next spring, and Fonville's only a year removed from A-ball. Castro has been a shortstop, and was moved to second in the past year to make room for Wilton Guerrero.

I really like Cedeno's future. He's a good hitter; his patience and speed make him an ideal leadoff hitter; he can fly in center, and he's ready for the majors at 20. If the Dodgers had really wanted to go with a pitching and defense formula last fall, they would have handed Cedeno centerfield, moved Butler to left, and planted Roberto Kelly's hollow veteran bat on the bench.

Career minor league middle infielder, with no calling card that draws notice. Doug Flynn, though lousy, could still gain notoriety as "the best bunter in baseball." Steve Lyons could make a fool out of himself. Chris Demetral needs to do something to draw attention to himself, or he'll be out of baseball in fairly short order. As you can see, he did well with full-time play at Vero Beach, but he was also one of the older players in the league.

He's a very good second baseman, but leave it to the Dodgers to diddle around with playing him at short two years ago. I think his LA slump is the product of both the ballpark and his trying to do too much; he did hit .300 on the road this year. He could be Comeback Player of the Year in 1996, even with the Dodgers, because I think he'll break out and have a great season at 27.

One of last season's fun "A-Ball to the Majors" success stories. Probably best-suited to play second base, Fonville's a good spare part. If he's pressed into a full-time role, he may not be as useful, unless he gets better at short or learns to hit lefties or starts taking more walks with age.

Signed to a one-year contract, at which point Tommy Lasorda will retire, and Wilton Guerrero get a shot at the shortstop job, or Lasorda will to manage until he dies, and they'll keep Gagne around as long as they did Alfredo Griffin, with Guerrero getting a raw deal just like Offerman did. Gagne's reliable in the field, and depends on positioning. With age and a new league, he may look bad at times for the Dodgers until he adjusts. He should stop running, because he doesn't do it well.

The Gagne signing, in company with the Blowers trade, has the Dodgers talking about how they're better than Atlanta. This is ludicrous, but no one ever accused the Dodgers of being anything other than optimistic.

Garcia is an example of how the Dodgers handle their genuine prospects: he's progressed quickly, he's 20, and he's nearly ready. A left-handed hitting rightfielder, he'll be in the majors to stay soon. At the least, he should have Chris Gwynn's job. Big platoon differential in the minors, can't hit lefties so far. This can help him in his attempt to get a job this spring, in that he can worked into a limited role, and with some success, expand that role at someone else's expense (probably Ashley). In the field, Garcia is known for spotty defensive work and a very strong arm.

Guerrero is on everyone's list of top shortstop prospects, but be warned: he's an Alfredo Griffin-style basepath commando (55% SB rate for his career, and it's going down each year), he won't take a walk, and as you can see, he doesn't have any power. If he doesn't hit .300, and if he fields anything like the other Dodger prospects of late, he could be stuck in Albuquerque for a while. After all, this is the organization that took a good, long look at Rafael Bournigal in '94, who probably couldn't beat Mark Belanger out for a job if the union man hung up his briefcase.

A wasted talent. Lasorda didn't let him take the third base job from Wallach, when he clearly outplayed him, because in the Pastaman's mind Hansen's been pigeonholed as a pinch-hitter, and never mind that he's simply a very good offensive player. He could wind up having a Denny Walling-like career, where he finally gets a couple of years to really show what he can do before he fades away. I certainly hope so.

He's not this bad, but spotty playing time hasn't helped him any. His career with the Dodgers could be over, if only because Ken Huckaby made the All-Star team in the PCL this year. Carlos had a lousy season, and did not rise to the occasion when Piazza went down early and the Dodgers needed something inspiring from their backup catcher. Altogether, these things probably make him extremely available, and he'd be a useful part-time catcher for anybody.

Hollandsworth, like so many Dodgers prospects, came up through the system with a lousy defensive reputation. Last winter, he was put in centerfield to learn, and it seems to have done some good. Still a sloppy fielder, he can throw a little, and he's got good left-handed power. When he went down with an injury in July, he was close to winning the everyday centerfield job (this was long before the Butler trade). Apparently the Pastaman had forgotten when Todd was back in September that the guy who was good enough to beat out Roberto Kelly in July should probably get his job back, what with Roberto still not playing at all well. Hopefully, he'll got a shot at some playing time in 1996, along with Cedeno and possibly Garcia.

He was in the PCL All-Star game, which says something about either the state of catching in the PCL or the Dodger publicity machine. Spray hitter, absolutely no power. Assuming the Dodgers bring up several pitchers from the minors next year (which they should), they may bring Huckaby with them, since he's familiar with them, and has "proven" his success. Although he's been rated the best defensive catcher in the Dodger's minor league system, he's made a ton of errors and committed a lot of passed balls; much of that could be being Chan Ho Park's battery mate, but mostly its a sign that Paul Konerko and Ryan Luzinski aren't playing catcher well.

Essentially positionless, he could turn out to be the new Mike Sharperson: a utility infielder who can hit lefties a little. This is not a rare skill. I'll take this time to say that Mike Sharperson's invitation to the 1992 All-Star Game as the Dodger's representative instead of Brett Butler was a travesty.

Well, he turned 27 and right on schedule, he had his best year, going from a replacement level first baseman to an All-Star. He still won't turn out to be the next Steve Garvey, but he has turned out about as well as Greg Brock and better than Franklin Stubbs, so he's a success. He seems to have worked hard on his defense, to the point that he's now a good defensive first baseman. He probably wouldn't get better outside of Chavez Ravine: 19 of his home runs this season were at home, and he slugged better at home.

Going into the postseason, published reports were calling him "the best #8 hitter in baseball," which was neither true nor impressive in itself. If your left fielder is hitting eighth, either you have a lot of great players at the other more difficult positions, which the Dodgers didn't, or you've got a lousy left fielder. At any rate, the statement wasn't even true, because the best #8 hitter was in a Cleveland uniform (see Paul Sorrento). Kelly's definitely lost a step in the outfield: his defensive numbers in center were well below league average. He's a free agent this winter, and he could be a useful fourth outfielder, but if his agent asks for starting player money, it might be time to export Roberto to Japan. Signed with Minnesota.

Hurt himself this past year, Lott's older than the up-and-comers in the organization (like Cedeno or Garcia). He may turn up as a spare part somewhere, but corner outfielders who don't hit for lots of power, don't get on base, and don't hit for high averages in the PCL either need an inspiring debut or too much luck to get a real shot.

A minor league Greg Gross: some power, some patience, will fiddle around at first or left but essentially is just around to hit (he was the Texas League's all-star DH). A competitive minor league team almost always has an Oreste Marrero or two on the team. Marrero's a flyball hitter, so if he went to Coors, he'd probably be an ace pinch-hitter; he could wind up being that for anybody.

When he was drafted, he was supposed to be an exciting power and speed combo. Instead, he's this. Despite being a complete stiff, the Dodgers decided to challenge Martin with an AFL assignment; he took the opportunity to show that his previous seasons were what you really can expect from him.

Maurer played all nine positions in Albuquerque's last game this year, including pitching a perfect ninth inning in a 4-2 loss. A gimmick like this should tell you how seriously to take his future. He seems to be pretty sure about his limitations, since he scabbed.

Left-handed first baseman who hasn't hit well yet. No reason for hope so far, and the inevitable power surge when he goes to Albuquerque will be a park illusion. Definitely not a prospect, yet he got a coveted Arizona Fall League assignment, and he didn't impress anybody.

His injury hurt the Dodgers in the postseason, but not as much as you'd think since he doesn't do much damage vs. LHPs. He flubbed his chance to become the regular center fielder early in the season, leading to the acquisition of Roberto Kelly, which in turn lead to the pickup of Brett Butler. He's got alot of the same problems Sammy Sosa has as a defensive player: error prone, the occasional dumb mistake, but a well-regarded throwing arm. Really improved his running game.

Simply a great player, Piazza was the victim of obnoxious bleating to the media by some members of the pitching staff. Essentially, there were complaints about his defensive work. When this happened (in August), you would have thought there more important things for the Dodgers' pitchers to worry about, but apparently not. To be fair, Piazza does make more errors than you'd like, and he doesn't throw particularly well, but he's not really hurting the team that much with his glovework.

When Eric Karros was being a disappointment, speculating about moving Piazza might have made sense if the Dodgers could have found a catcher who could hit better than Eric Karros (so that they could move Piazza to first). Now Karros is looking pretty good, so the argument is even more pointless. Like Ted Simmons before him, with Mike Piazza you take the bad with the good, because the good is great. Hit .384 on the road, and slugged .734.

Stupid sports journalism, again: last year, Tom Prince was touted by one baseball publication as a prospect who had resurrected his career in Albuquerque. As if those previous years of failure with the Pirates had never happened... To be fair, Prince is a pretty good choice as a backup catcher, but he's no prospect, and he barely deserves regular playing time in AAA. Just because he can sock'em in the Albuquerque bandbox does not make him any better than he is.

He's a year removed from hitting well at Vero Beach, and he's young enough to put together a good career. One of the better prospects (not a good one, mind you) among the Dodgers' hoard of scrappy infielders.

Like the better stripe of Dodgers OF prospects, he's very young, and relative to older competitors in AA, did pretty well. He probably won't be a great player, but he could wind up as a major league outfielder.

His big season in the California League this season isn't shown here, but it needs some qualifying statements: Spearman was older than almost everyone else in the league, and he isn't really a good prospect. He may make the majors as a pinch-runner, a la Rodney McCray, but he doesn't have a future as a regular leadoff hitter.

With Mitch Webster finished and Chris Gwynn mercifully gone, do you think the Dodgers would let a combination of rookies hold down the top pinch-hitting jobs? Neither did I. Count on Milt to get more playing time than anyone thinks reasonable if he makes the team.

His career is probably over. A long-time favorite of mine, and a true professional. When he was being trashed repeatedly in the papers by the Cubs during his short time there, he just went out and did his job, and put up with it. When he was benched in Cleveland, he didn't complain to beat reporters, he worked on becoming a useful role player. Chicago mediots who pine for the mythical good old days when all players were professionals and gamers should remember that all major leaguers are professionals, and some of them are certainly more so than some members of the press.

Just a PCL hitter, ie, one of a hundred guys who won't get a shot at a major league job. Williams could have been a useful bench player in the majors, but to get a shot now one of his minor league managers who really liked him would have to get a major league job, and then ask for Reggie Williams, and that just isn't going to happen.

As you can see, the Dodgers are deep. The disastrous drafts of the late '80s have been mitigated to some extent by the number of useful pitchers the Dodgers have been developing in the minors for the last few years. However, there are valid questions about how much of a future most of these guys have. On this list, only two pitchers have a realistic shot at helping the Dodgers in 1996: Park should get an opportunity at a spot in the rotation this spring, and Felix Rodriguez a chance at a job in the pen.

As for the rest, Pincavitch has essentially come from nowhere, and been used primarily as a swingman; he'll be 26 by the All-Star break, and has never escaped A-Ball, so he doesn't really have a great future ahead of him. Price has superb control (14 walks in 152 IP), but again is a swingman who isn't fooling a lot of California League batters. Treadwell and Rath could help a team right now, but are unlikely to get a shot in the spring, and will have to survive the dangers of pitching in Albuquerque in 1996. Duran and Ashworth are wild, power-pitching lefties, so you'll hear more about them in the next year if you haven't already; and Pivaral was 18 while getting knocked around in the California League; still, he showed promise. Weaver, Lagarde, and Jesus Martinez aren't really considered prospects, and Parra had to go back to the Florida State League to work in relief after getting pasted in the California League.

Touted prospects of the recent past missing from this list are Rick Gorecki and Darren Dreifort, highly regarded prospects who lost most of the season to injury, and Todd Williams, who was traded to Oakland for Dave Kingman's mouse-in-a-box. Notably missing, but currently getting attention in Baseball America's prospect lists, are Onan Masaoka and David Yocum, both lefties, but of very different types: Yocum is the Dodgers' 1995 first rounder from Florida State, and is expected to progress quickly because of his poise and college experience, while Masaoka is wild with a dominating fastball, walking 47 in 49 innings while striking out 75. They're just at the beginning of their careers, so flameouts, talent evaporation, or just plain old bad pitching could be in their futures just as easily as kudos and greatness.

He completely flamed out in the rotation early in the season, and had to regroup in middle relief. He'd done well mixing his assortment of sinking fastball, curve and changeup in the past, but he lost control of the curve, and the change is really more of a developmental pitch. Relying on his fastball, he got hammered, but confidence in only one pitch can work in the pen. Whether he bounces back as a starter or not depends on getting his curveball working again. Locked up the Dodgers' #5 spot.

Brewer works his fastball high in the strike zone, producing flyballs that he prays stay in the park. He can probably regain some lost ground in the NL in comfortable Chavez Ravine, but giving up Offerman to get waiver-wire bait like this was simply dumb.

Big soft-tosser who zoomed to a 10-0 start this year in the California League. Nevertheless, like most of his species, he won't get a shot unless there's a system-wide breakdown of pitching prospects; basically an Telgheder or Otto clone.

Unlike most Dodger pitchers, Candiotti doesn't do badly on the road; however, he puts up mediocre W-L records because of consistently lousy run support. He mixes in a hanging curve and a batting practice fastball with the knuckler, to change pace and confuse hitters, but he has to "challenge" them with the floater to succeed. Candiotti seems to be one of the guys frequently griping about the Dodger defense, complaining about Piazza and Offerman in particular; if he wants runs scored for him, he'd probably be better off not asking for glove men in the lineup.

Picked up from the Mariners after not really failing there, Cummings did a good job as a garbageman and middle reliever. He's got four pitches, but lives on a big curveball that he only throws effectively with no one on base. Not really suited to come in and face face single lefty batters since he's worse against lefties. With his starting experience, he could be a good middle reliever.

Still recovering from the blood clot in his shoulder that derailed his '93 season, an injury which seems to have sapped his forkball of its bite. Nevertheless, he fools a lot of batters with a deceptive delivery and a mix of curves, changes and the forkball. Since Lasorda usually puts a heavier load on his top two or three relievers, Guthrie may get a lot of time in '96.

After being a nice success story in '94, Hall collapsed in '95 with a serious elbow injury. Whether or not he can bounce back isn't certain, and even at his best, he's a mediocre reliever. Has locked up a spot in the Dodger bullpen.

An example of the kind of lefty who shouldn't be a one-out role player in a bullpen. Lilliquist needs a heavier workload to keep sharp, and when he was limited to the spot duty role in '94 he faltered, resuming the wandering gypsy lifestyle of the professional left-hander.

Tommy Lasorda did his worst at the beginning of the decade, and although it set Ramon back, it didn't ruin him. He survives on mixing his fastball and his three-finger changeup; his assortment and approach are interesting in that he's noticeably wild against left-handed hitters, but doesn't let them pound the long ball. If he was really 16 when he pitched in the Olympics in 1984, I'm the man in the moon.

So much has been said already that the only addition should be to point out that for entertainment value, baseball could use more big windups. He's almost a one-pitch pitcher, but what he can do with his forkball is more than most pitchers can do with an assortment.

He's got a great fastball, unfortunately without a lot of movement. Had one particularly long, bad outing at the beginning of the season, which trashed his first half; he bounced back nicely to have a strong second half, and should be the main setup man in the pen in '96. He had an especially great winter in the Mexican League as a closer, not allowing an earned run all season.

He's a wild and crazy guy, and a terror for his own catcher. He was handled carefully last season and then turned loose on the Arizona Fall League, where he was dominating and named the #5 prospect. The fast gun had him throwing 99 mph in one game, and his major task was to work on his changeup and tighten his curve, and he's definitely improved. Park has an excellent chance to win the #5 spot in the rotation from Pedro Astacio this spring.

He's a beefy guy, but a soft-tossing groundballer. He went 12-6 with 3.38 ERA in San Antonio, but isn't being touted, and has no chance of working his way into the Dodgers' rotation anytime in the future. He scabbed.

Radinsky was placed right onto the White Sox roster while recovering from Hodgkins Disease, and pitched poorly. Apparently, he fought tooth and nail to avoid a demotion, and argued with Terry Bevington. Since the front office thought he made for a good human interest story, the team put up with his whining until he got hammered badly enough to finally force the team to demote him. His fastball hasn't put in an appearance since the illness. His troubles are no longer those of the Sox, since he was signed by the Dodgers.

Led the Texas League in ERA, and was named the #7 prospect in the circuit. His pitches aren't dominating, but have a lot of movement; he's only 23 and he's already being called crafty. He got knocked around in the Arizona Fall League, so he'll probably have to suffer through a season in Albuquerque in '96.

A converted catcher who just completed his third season as a pitcher. As such, he's heavily reliant on his fastball, and hasn't yet developed a reliable breaking pitch. If the Dodgers want to develop him as a starter, he'll be in Albuquerque in '96; if they decide they need bullpen help now, where he can survive with his heater alone, he'll make the team. He's being used as a closer in the Dominican winter league.

Another one of Fred Claire's bad ideas: giving Rudy Seanez a two-year contract. He's never been healthy because of a chronic back problem, he's never had control anywhere for any period of time, but he's got that big heater so he gets a shot without proving he knows how to pitch. When he flopped last season, the Dodgers questioned his makeup, which is a smokescreen for being surprised that he can't pitch well consistently.

Released in December, he's a superb control pitcher who needs a competent defense to win; going to the Dodgers wasn't exactly a good match. He's bad at holding runners, and he's consistently had horrible problems with right-handed batters. Usually, Tapani has a mediocre first half and comes around after the All-Star break; that didn't happen this year. He pitched badly in the Hump Dome this year, but posted a respectable 4.23 ERA overall on the road; for a team in a pitcher's park, he could turn out to be a cheap and useful pickup. No longer the workhorse he once was; by the sixth inning, he starts to lose it. White Sox #4 starter.

You don't hear a thing about this guy, yet he's been increasingly trusted with larger workloads as other more highly touted people either falter or move on, and he's done the job. He's gotten better in the PCL three consecutive seasons. Feeling unappreciated, he scabbed.

Posted a 3.79 ERA on the road, 2.30 in Chavez Ravine, and 13 of the 17 homers he allowed were to left-handed batters, but those aren't really major weaknesses. Throws four pitches, all of them from the same delivery; he's not a fireballer, but a guy knows how to pitch, and that's what shot him through the system so quickly. He's murder when he gets ahead in the count, and he got better as the season went on. If Lasorda doesn't overuse him, he'll be something special, but that's the big if, as with all young Dodger pitchers.

An undrafted free agent coming out of high school, he's grown into being a huge man, wild with power, works high in the strikezone alot. He was given a middle relief slot in the AFL, where he did well, but almost anyone used in the middle relief role seems to do well in the AFL.

He's given up on his slider, and that may be the reason he stayed healthy last year. For a change of pace, he started relying on curves and changeups, which he probably hadn't used since he days as a starter low in the Cardinals' chain. The new assortment made him more effective and gave Lasorda the confidence to use Worrell on consecutive days, which considering his injury history, was a major concern going in to '95. He re-signed, and should continue to be effective.